Section 46

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All thine, O sacred Union!
Ship, farm, shop, barns, factories, mines,
City and State—North, South, item and aggregate, We dedicate, dread Mother, all to thee!
Protectress absolute, thou! Bulwark of all!
For well we know that while thou givest each and all, (generous as God, )
Without thee, neither all nor each, nor land, home, 230
Ship, nor mine—nor any here, this day, secure,
Nor aught, nor any day secure.
3
And thou, thy Emblem, waving over all!
Delicate beauty ! a word to thee, (it may be salutary ;)
Remember, thou hast not always been, as here to-day, so com- fortably ensovereign’d ;
In other scenes than these have I observ’d thee, flag ;
Not quite so trim and whole, and freshly blooming, in folds of stainless silk ;
But I have seen thee, bunting, to tatters torn, upon thy splinter’d staff,
Or clutch’d to some young color-bearer’s breast, with desperate hands,
Savagely struggled for, for life or death—fought over long, 240
*Mid cannon’s thunder-crash, and many a curse, and groan and yell—and rifle-volleys cracking sharp,
And moving masses, as wild demons surging—and lives as noth- ing risk’d,
For thy mere remnant, grimed with dirt and smoke, and sopp’d in blood ;
For sake of that, my beauty—and that thou might’st dally, as now, secure up there,
Many a good man have I seen go under.
14 Now here, and these, and hence, in peace all thine, O Flag! And here, and hence, for thee, O universal Muse! and thou for them ! And here and hence, O Union, all the work and workmen thine!
AFTER ALL, NOT TO CREATE ONLY 453
The poets, women, sailors, soldiers, farmers, miners, students thine! 249
None separate from Thee—henceforth one only, we and Thou;
(For the blood of the children—what is it only the blood Ma- ternal ?
And lives and works—what are they all at last except the roads to Faith and Death ?)
While we rehearse our measureless wealth, it is for thee, dear Mother !
We own it all and several to-day indissoluble in Thee ;
—Think not our chant, our show, merely for products gross, or lucre—it is for Thee, the Soul, electric, spiritual !
Our farms, inventions, crops, we own in Thee! Cities and States in Thee!
Our freedom all in Thee! our very lives in Thee!
&*
ONE SONG, AMERICA, BEFORE I GO.
First published in ‘‘ As a Strong Bird,” etc., 1372.
OnE song, America, before I go,
I'd sing, o’er all the rest, with trumpet sound,
For thee—the Future.
I’d sow a seed for thee of endless Nationality ;
I'd fashion thy Ensemble, including Body and Soul ;
I’d show, away ahead, thy real Union, and how it may be accomplish’ d.
(The paths to the House I seek to make, But leave to those to come, the House itself. )
Belief I sing—and Preparation ;
As Life and Nature are not great with reference to the Present only, Io
But greater still from what is yet to come,
Out of that formula for Thee I sing.
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SOUVENIRS OF DEMOCRACY.
First published in “ As a Strong Bird,” etc., 1872.
THE business man, the acquirer vast,
After assiduous years, surveying results, preparing for departure,
Devises houses and lands to his children—bequeaths stocks, goods—funds for a school or hospital,
Leaves money to certain companions to buy tokens, souvenirs of gems and gold ;
Parceling out with care—And then, to prevent all cavil,
His name to his testament formally signs.
But I, my life surveying,
With nothing to show, to devise, from its idle years,
Nor houses, nor lands—nor tokens of gems or gold for my friends,
Only these Souvenirs of Democracy—In them—in all my songs —behind me leaving, 10
To You, who ever youare, (bathing, leavening this leaf especially with my breath—pressing on it a moment with my own hands ;
—Here ! feel how the pulse beats in my wrists !—how my heart’s- blood is swelling, contracting !)
I will You, in all, Myself, with promise to never desert you,
To which I sign my name.
AS A STRONG BIRD ON PINIONS FREE.
Commencement Poem, Dartmouth College, N. H., June 26, 1872, on invi- tation United Literary Societies.
First published in ‘* As a Strong Bird,” etc., 1872.
I
As a strong bird on pinions free,
Joyous, the amplest spaces heavenward cleaving,
Such be the thought I’d think to-day of thee, America, Such be the recitative I’d bring to-day for thee,
The conceits of the poets of other lands I bring thee not, Nor the compliments that have served their turn so long,
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Nor rhyme—nor the classics—nor perfume of foreign court, or indoor library ;
But an odor I’d bring to-day as from forests of pine in the north, in Maine—or breath of an Illinois prairie,
With open airs of Virginia, or Georgia, or Tennessee—or from Texas uplands, or Florida’s glades,
With presentment of Yellowstone’s scenes, or Yosemite ; Io And murmuring under, pervading all, I’d bring the rustling sea- sound,
That endlessly sounds from the two great seas of the world.
And for thy subtler sense, subtler refrains, O Union!
Preludes of intellect tallying these and thee—mind-formulas fitted for thee—real, and sane, and large as these and thee ;
Thou, mounting higher, diving deeper than we knew—thou transcendental Union !
By thee Fact to be justified—blended with Thought ;
Thought of Man justified—blended with God:
Through thy Idea—lo ! the immortal Reality!
Through thy Reality—lo! the immortal Idea!
2
Brain of the New World! what a task is thine! 20
To formulate the Modern... . . Out of the peerless grandeur of the modern,
Out of Thyself—comprising Science—to recast Poems, Churches, Art,
(Recast—may-be discard them, end them—May-be their work is done—who knows ?)
By vision, hand, conception, on the background of the mighty past, the dead,
To limn, with absolute faith, the mighty living present.
(And yet, thou living, present brain! heir of the dead, the Old World brain!
Thou that lay folded, like an unborn babe, within its folds so long !
Thou carefully prepared by it so long !—haply thou but unfoldest it—only maturest it; .
It to eventuate in thee—the essence of the by-gone time con- tain’d in thee ;
Its puems, churches, arts, unwitting to themselves, destined with reference to thee, 30
The fruit of all the Old, ripening to-day in thee. )
456 _ LEAVES OF GRASS
3 Sail—sail thy best, ship of Democracy ! Of value is thy freight—’tis not the Present only, The Past is also stored in thee! Thou holdest not the venture of thyself alone—not of thy west- ern continent alone ; _Earth’s résumé entire floats on thy keel, O ship—is steadied by thy spars ; With thee Time voyages in trust—the antecedent nations sink or swim with thee ; With all their ancient struggles, martyrs, heroes, epics, wars, thou bear’st the other continents ; Theirs, theirs as much as thine, the destination-port triumphant: —Steer, steer with good strong hand and wary eye, O helms- man—thou carryest great companions, 40 Venerable, priestly Asia sails this day with thee, And royal, feudal Europe sails with thee.
4
Beautiful World of new, superber ‘Birth, that rises to my eyes,
Like a limitless golden cloud, filling the western sky ;
Emblem of general Maternity, lifted above all ;
Sacred shape of the bearer of daughters and sons ;
Out of thy teeming womb, thy giant babes in ceaseless proces- sion issuing,
Acceding from such gestation, taking and giving continual strength and life ;
World of the Real! world of the twain in one!
World of the Soul—born by the world of the real alone—led to identity, body, by it alone ; 50°
Yet in beginning only—incalculable masses of composite, pre- cious materials,
By history’s cycles forwarded—by every nation, language, hither sent,
Ready, collected here—a freer, vast, electric World, to be con- structed here,
(The true New World—the world of orbic Science, Morals, Literatures to come, )
Thou Wonder World, yet undefined, unform’d—-neither do I define thee ;
How can I pierce the impenetrable blank of the future?
I feel thy ominous greatness, evil as well as good ;
AS A STRONG BIRD ON PINIONS FREE A457
I watch thee, advancing, absorbing the present, transcending the past ;
I see thy light lighting and thy shadow shadowing, as if the entire globe ;
But Ido not undertake to define thee—hardly to comprehend thee; 60
I but thee name—thee prophecy—as now !
I merely thee ejaculate !
Thee in thy future ;
Thee in thy only permanent life, career—thy own unloosen’d mind—thy soaring spirit ;
Thee as another equally needed sun, America—radiant, ablaze, swift-moving, fructifying all ;
Thee! risen in thy potent cheerfulness and joy—thy endless, great hilarity !
(Scattering for good the cloud that hung so long—that weigh’d so long upon the mind of man,
The doubt, suspicion, dread, of gradual, certain decadence of man ;
Thee in thy aes saner breeds of Female, Male—thee in thy athletes, moral, spiritual, South, North, West, East,
(To thy immortal breasts, Mother of All, thy every daughter,
son, endear’d alike, forever equal ;) 70 Thee in thy own musicians, singers, artists, unborn yet, but certain ;
Thee in thy moral wealth and civilization (until which thy proud- est material wealth and civilization must remain in vain ;)
Thee in thy all-supplying, all-enclosing Worship—thee in no single bible, saviour, merely,
Thy saviours countless, latent within thyself—thy bibles incessant, within thyself, equal to any, divine as any ;
Thee in an education grown of thee—in teachers, studies, stu- dents, born of thee ;
Thee in thy democratic fétes, en masse—thy high original fes- tivals, operas, lecturers, preachers ;
Thee in thy ultimata, (the preparations only now completed— the edifice on sure foundations tied, )
Thee in thy pinnacles, intellect. thought—thy topmost rational joys—thy love, and godlike aspiration,
In thy resplendent coming literati—thy full-lung’d orators—thy sacerdotal bards—kosmic savans,
These! these in thee, (certain to come, ) to-day I prophecy. 80
458 LEAVES OF GRASS
5
Land tolerating all—accepting all—not for the good alone—all good for thee ;
Land in the realms of God to be a realm unto thyself ;
Under the rule of God to be a rule unto thyself.
(Lo! where arise three peerless stars,
To be thy natal stars, my country—Ensemble—Evolution— Freedom,
Set in the sky of Law. )
Land of unprecedented faith—God’s faith !
Thy soil, thy very subsoil, all upheav’d ;
The general inner earth, so long, so sedulously draped over, now and hence for what it is, boldly laid bare,
Open’d by thee to heaven’s light, for benefit or bale. go
Not for success alone ;
Not to fair-sail unintermitted always ;
The storm shall dash thy face—the murk of war, and worse than war, shall cover thee all over ;
(Wert capable of war—its tug and trials? Be capable of peace, its trials ;
For the tug and mortal strain of nations come at last in peace— not war ; )
In many a smiling mask death shall approach, beguiling thee— thou in disease shalt swelter ;
The livid cancer spread its hideous claws, clinging upon thy breasts, seeking to strike thee deep within ;
Consumption of the worst—moral consumption—shall rouge thy face with hectic :
But thou shalt face thy fortunes, thy diseases, and surmount
them all, Whatever they are to-day, and whatever through time they! may be, I0o
They each and all shall lift, and pass away, and cease from thee ;
While thou, Time’s spirals rounding—out of thyself, thyself still extricating, fusing,
Equable, natural, mystical Union thou—(the mortal with im- mortal blent, )
Shalt soar toward the fulfilment of the future—the spirit of the body and the mind,
The Soul—its destinies.
AS A STRONG BIRD ON PINIONS FREE 459
The Soul, its destinies—the real real,
(Purport of all these apparitions of the real ;)
In thee, America, the Soul, its destinies ;
Thou globe of globes! thou wonder nebulous !
By many a throe of heat and cold convuls’d—(by these thyself
solidifying ; ) IIo Thou mental, moral orb! thou New, indeed new, Spiritual World !
The Present holds thee not—for such vast growth as thine—for such unparallel’d flight as thine, The Future only holds thee, and can hold thee.
&
THE MYSTIC TRUMPETER.
First published in ‘* As a Strong Bird,” etc., 1872. Pp 7
I
Hark ! some wild trumpeter—some strange musician, Hovering unseen in air, vibrates capricious tunes to-night.
I hear thee, trumpeter—listening, alert, I catch thy notes, Now pouring, whirling like a tempest round me, Now low, subdued—now in the distance lost.
2
Come nearer, bodiless one—haply, in thee resounds
Some dead composer—haply thy pensive life
Was fill’d with aspirations high—unform’d ideals,
Waves, oceans musical, chaotically surging,
That now, ecstatic ghost, close to me bending, thy cornet echo- ing, pealing, se)
Gives out to no one’s ears but mine—but freely gives to mine,
That I may thee translate.
3
Blow, trumpeter, free and clear—I follow thee,
While at thy liquid prelude, glad, serene,
The fretting world, the streets, the noisy hours of day, withdraw ; A holy calm descends; like dew, upon me,
I walk, in cool refreshing night, the walks of Paradise,
I scent the grass, the moist air, and the roses ;
460 LEAVES OF GRASS
Thy song expands my numb’d, imbonded spirit—thou freest, launchest me, Floating and basking upon Heaven’s lake. 20
4
Blow again, trumpeter! and for my sensuous eyes, Bring the old pageants—show the feudal world.
What charm thy music works !—thou makest pass before me,
Ladies and cavaliers long dead—barons are in their castle halls— the troubadours are singing ;
Arm’d knights go forth to redress wrongs—some in quest of the Holy Grail :
Isee the tournament—I see the contestants, encased in heavy armor, seated on stately, champing horses ;
I hear the shouts—the sounds of blows and smiting steel :
I see the Crusaders’ tumultuous armies—Hark ! how the cymbals clang !
Lo! where the monks walk in advance, bearing the cross on high !
5
Blow again, trumpeter! and for thy theme, 30 Take now the enclosing theme of all—the solvent and the setting ; Love, that is pulse of all—the sustenace and the pang ;
The heart of man and woman all for love ;
No other theme but love—knitting, enclosing, all-diffusing love.
O, how the immortal phantoms crowd around me !
I see the vast alembic ever working—I see and know the flames that heat the world ;
The glow, the blush, the beating hearts of lovers,
So blissful happy some—and some so silent, dark, and nigh to
death :
Love, that is all the earth to lovers—Love, that mocks time and space ;
Love, that is day and night—Love, that is sun and moon and stars ; 40
Love, that is crimson, sumptuous, sick with perfume ; No other words, but words of love—no other thought but Love.
6 Blow again, trumpeter—conjure war’s wild alarums.
AS A STRONG BIRD ON PINIONS FREE 461
Swift to thy spell, a shuddering hum like distant thunder rolls ;
Lo! where the arm’d men hasten—Lo ! mid the clouds of dust, the glint of bayonets ;
I see the grime-faced cannoniers—I mark the rosy flash amid the smoke—{ hear the cracking of the guns:
—WNor war alone—thy fearful music-song, wild player, brings every sight of fear,
The deeds of ruthless brigands—rapine, murder—I hear the cries for help!
I see ships foundering at sea—I behold on deck, and below deck, the terrible tableaux. 49
7
O trumpeter! methinks I am myself the instrument thou playest !
Thou melt’st my heart, my brain—thou movest, drawest, chang- est them, at will:
And now thy sullen notes send darkness through me ;
Thou takest away all cheering light—all hope:
I see the enslaved, the overthrown, the hurt, the opprest of the whole earth ;
I feel the measureless shame and humiliation of my race—it be- comes all mine ;
Mine too the revenges of humanity—the wrongs of ages—baffled feuds and hatreds ;
Utter defeat upon me weighs—all lost! the foe victorious !
(Yet ’mid the ruins Pride colossal stands, unshaken to the last ;
Endurance, resolution, to the last.)
8
Now, trumpeter, for thy close, 60 Vouchsafe a higher strain than any yet ;
Sing to my soul—renew its languishing faith and hope ;
Rouse up my slow belief—give me some vision of the future ; Give me, for once, its prophecy and joy.
O glad, exulting, culminating song !
A vigor more than earth’s is in thy notes!
Marches of victory—man disenthrall’d—the conqueror at last ! Hymns to the universal God, from universal Man—all joy !
A reborn race appears—a perfect World, all joy !
Women and Men, in wisdom, innocence and health—all joy! Riotous, laughing bacchanals, fill’d with joy ! 71
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War, sorrow, suffering gone—The rank earth purged—nothing but joy left!
The ocean fill’d with joy—the atmosphere all joy!
Joy ! Joy! in freedom, worship, love! Joy in the ecstacy of life!
Enough to merely be! Enough to breathe !
Joy! Joy! all over Joy!
& O STAR OF FRANCE!
1870-71. First published in ‘‘ As a Strong Bird,’’ 1872.
I
O Star of France !
The brightness of thy hope and strength and fame,
Like some proud ship that led the fleet so long,
Beseems to-day a wreck, driven by the gale—a mastless hulk ;
And ’mid its teeming, madden’d, half-drown’d crowds,
Nor helm nor helmsman.
2
Dim, smitten star !
Orb not of France alone—pale symbol of my soul, its dearest hopes,
The struggle and the daring—rage divine for liberty,
Of aspirations toward the far ideal—enthusiast’s dreams of brotherhood, Io
Of terror to the tyrant and the priest.
3 Star crucified ! by traitors sold ! Star panting o’er a land of death—heroic land! Strange, passionate, mocking, frivolous land.
Miserable! yet for thy errors, vanities, sins, I will not now re- buke thee ;